Her first taste of competition was at local surf club and she progressed quickly to state and national competitions before capturing the Australian professional women's junior title in 2003. That breakthrough led to her joining the World Championship Tour (WCT) sponsored by the Association of Surfing Professionals, professional surfing's governing body, in 2005. She spent the next four years competing on the WCT, appearing in major events around the world and consistently maintaining a rating in the top ten.
Despite that success, Bevilacqua grew disenchanted with the Women's World Tour after it eliminated events in Fiji and Tahiti that had been among her favourites, leaving the women's tour to compete in out-of-the-way locations that offered small waves that did not suit Bevilacqua's freewheeling, aggressive style. She spent some time focused on freestyle events, but returned to the WCT in the end, again standing in the top ten in the world in 2010. She has also found some premium sponsors along the way, including Volcom, Nixon, JC, Gravis, Electric and Squid Grip.
Claire Bevilacqua's Career Highlights
Aside from her breakthrough win in the Australian juniors, Bevilacqua has some notable wins in her resume. She captured the Outer Banks Pro in North Carolina and followed that with a win in the Hello Kitty Boardfest at Huntington Beach, California in 2004. Her signature victory to date was a first-place against stiff competition at the 2009 Pipeline Pro, a four star event held on the North Shore of Oahu. Bevilacqua has accumulated $172,600 in lifetime winnings as of 2010. She is rated number eight in the world in the 2010 standings with winnings of $27,800 for the year.
